


2.41 in the morning

by evakuality



Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28852935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evakuality/pseuds/evakuality
Summary: The seconds tick past, every one loud in the still of the night.  David knows that’s his imagination, that the sounds of the seconds are not literally audible, but they still haunt him.  He imagines each as it ticks slowly, counting down the interminable minutes of the night.  He turns over, giving in, and grabs his phone.  2.41, the screen reads when he blinks it into life.  He flings the phone away from him, groaning as he pulls his pillow over his head, trying to block out the irritable thoughts that keep swarming.
Relationships: Matteo Florenzi/David Schreibner
Comments: 8
Kudos: 50





	2.41 in the morning

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the tumblr prompt:
> 
> We do have a lot of beautiful and gorgeous fics of David taking care of Matteo, but what about the other way? David being in a bad mood. Matteo is busy that day perhaps he had to work late and in theory David had to get up early the next day (uni?).
> 
> And it's just a night apart and it's manageable (they don't like it, but they would survive) but David feels crappy and just asks Matteo to come over in the night. And then they cuddle so much and David can just let go.

The seconds tick past, every one loud in the still of the night. David knows that’s his imagination, that the sounds of the seconds are not literally audible, but they still haunt him. He imagines each as it ticks slowly, counting down the interminable minutes of the night. He turns over, giving in, and grabs his phone.  _ 2.41, _ the screen reads when he blinks it into life. He flings the phone away from him, groaning as he pulls his pillow over his head, trying to block out the irritable thoughts that keep swarming.

The biggest issue he has tonight is that Matteo isn’t here. Not that it’s all that unusual for them to spend the night apart, but today it feels worse than usual. The day has been shitty, assholes making sly digs at the quality of David’s work, and all he wanted when he dragged himself home was to wrap himself up in Matteo and never let go.

But Matteo had to work late, finishing after midnight, and David has to be up early tomorrow for his classes and so it’s just sensible for them to do this. The problem is… sensible doesn’t cut it right now. It’s… David checks the phone again. It’s 2.43 in the morning and he just wants his boyfriend.

Sighing, he opens the phone and scrolls through his messages.  _ I love you. See you tomorrow.  _ Matteo’s trademark shitty emoji after his words, whatever random one takes his fancy. This time it was the sunglasses emoji. David smiles at the messages, heart lifting slightly as he rereads them.

_ I miss you, _ he sends back. He doesn’t expect it to be read, not until morning, but he wants this on record. That he misses Matteo and wants him to have a record of that.

_ Why are you still awake? _ comes back immediately, and David sighs again. Of course Matteo’s still up. He never goes straight to bed when he’s finished work, winding down with music or a little gaming. 

_ Can’t sleep. Shitty day, shitty night _

David watches as Matteo writes something. It stops and starts enough that David knows he’s trying to find the right words. 

_ I’ll come over _

While it’s what David wants, almost desperately, he still feels guilty. Matteo’s surely got himself comfortable, tucked up in bed with his headphones on and a controller in his hands. David can picture it perfectly, knows the way Matteo does this as intimately as he knows his own routines. He doesn’t want to be the one to force Matteo out into a cold, damp night just so he can feel a bit better.

_ No it’s fine, _ he sends back.  _ I’m just whining _

An eye roll emoji appears, followed a few seconds later by an emphatic  _ too late, already one my way _

A tiny part of David twinges, bending under all the weight of the guilt he’s feeling. But by far the bigger part is relieved. He wants to fall into Matteo’s arms and soak up the comfort only he can give,

Half an hour later, his phone lights up again.  _ I’m outside, _ it reads.  _ Let me in _

David smiles at it, fond as always at the respect in which Matteo holds Laura. It’s courteous, David knows that, but he’s also sure Matteo wouldn’t be this careful not to disturb her if he wasn’t just a tiny bit wary of her even now. He makes his way out to the door and pulls it open as quietly as he can. Matteo’s there on the other side, with a tilted head and a small amused smile of his own. His backpack is slung over one shoulder, and he holds up his hand, a bag dangling from it with a few beers and a packet of chips. 

He sees where David's eyes drift and shrugs. “It’s all I could find at home. You sounded like you might need it.”

“God,” David says, reaching for him, pulling him inside by his lapel. “I really love you.”

“I know,” Matteo says in a cheerful whisper, kicking the door closed behind him, plonking the bag on the floor and opening his arms wide.

Gratefully, David falls into them, lets his head fall onto Matteo’s shoulder and just soaks in his warmth and the strong comfort of his embrace. He turns his head so his nose presses in at the base of Matteo’s neck, and breathes in. Long and deep, inhaling the smoky scent he exudes, David can feel his body melting into it, the bone-weary tiredness that seeps into it as he lets himself relax now that Matteo is with him.

“Why are you sniffing me?” Matteo asks, chuckling as David squeezes tighter. “Do I smell that weird?”

Too tired to react with his usual banter, David shakes his head. “No. S’good. Like home.”

“You’re already home,” Matteo says, but his voice is warm with none of the teasing note it usually holds at times like this. He can tell, it seems, that David needs something else tonight.

They separate, and Matteo picks up his bag again, leading David back towards his bedroom. When he enters, David takes stock of it, notices just how shitty it looks today. Clothes are scattered around and his books are in a couple of piles on the floor, pencils and paper flung every which way on his desk and by his chair. His bed is the worst, covers askew, sheets crumpled and unkempt.

Matteo stills in the doorway and looks it over before turning to him. “When did you turn into me?” he asks quietly. The words are teasing, but there’s a serious note in his voice, as if he knows somehow that this represents how shitty everything is for David right now.

David shrugs. “It’s been a bit shitty,” he admits. “This stupid project isn’t working.”

He sucks in a deep breath, alerted by the wobble in his own voice to the fact that he maybe shouldn’t start spilling this right now. Not if he wants to get to his course tomorrow anyway. Once the floodgate is open, he knows from experience that he can’t shut it down and the hours before he needs to be up are already alarmingly short.

But Matteo doesn’t let him leave it there. He wraps his arms around David again and moves in a gentle shuffle until they reach the bed, then pulls David down onto it with him.

“You can tell me,” he says. “If it makes it easier to sleep.”

David shakes his head. “I need to sleep now,” he says. “I have class in the morning.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Matteo whispers. “You can pretend to be sick this once. They’ll understand.” he laughs softly. “You’re Mr Reliable, never taking a day off. No-one will question it.”

“I can’t.”

“You will,” Matteo insists. “If you want, we can go over it all tomorrow here, but you need to rest. It’s after 3 in the morning. You can’t get up at 6 to go to school.”

David flops back onto the bed and tucks his hands up behind his head. He stares at the ceiling for a long time, trying to work out what to say and how he’s feeling. Part of him is panicked at the idea of taking a day off. He’ll fall behind, lose out on his place at the head of the class. He’ll lose the respect of the teachers, and the way they look at him approvingly as someone who always gets his work done on time and to a high standard.

But another part of him knows he needs to take that break. He’s burning out, edging ever closer to the end of his patience and ability to push through all the bullshit. That part of him sighs again in relief as Matteo flops back next to him and turns his head so he can watch David's face. That part of him rolls so that he can wrap himself around Matteo’s body again.

“It’s all so hard,” he whispers, hears the wobble in his voice again and grimaces. “I can’t make this stupid piece work, and these assholes said it was shitty.”

“It’s not shitty,” Matteo says, wrapping his arms around David, pulling him in close the way David craves.

“You can’t know that,” David says.

“I do though. Nothing you do is ever shit.” David opens his mouth to protest; he knows his work and he knows this isn’t his best, but Matteo shushes him with a kiss. “Nope. Even if it’s not great right now, I know it’s not shitty.”

“It feels shitty,” David says. “Those guys know what they’re talking about, and they said-”

“Even if they did,” Matteo says, his voice soothing, almost soporific, “they don’t know the vision.”

“Neither do you,” David says, on a small puff of laughter.

“No,” Matteo agrees. “But like I said, we can talk about it. You can explain it all to me, and we can brainstorm. Tomorrow. After you’ve had some fucking sleep.”

It all feels easier now that Matteo’s here, and David wonders if that should worry him. He shouldn’t need this sort of validation from the outside to feel okay about his work. He should be able to trust his own instincts, his own belief in what he’s doing. His teachers’ approval, that’s always been a motivating factor. Now the words of his classmates still ring in his ears, making him second guess everything. And Matteo’s words, so calm and sensible. Those affect him too.

He sighs. Knows his therapist would suggest he work some more on listening to himself, to his own thoughts about things. But right now that’s too hard. He’s so close to the edge that he’s tipping over and it feels like only Matteo’s strong arms are holding him. 

So he cuddles into Matteo, uncaring that he hasn’t even taken his sweatpants off, and tucks his head in under Matteo’s chin. All of that can wait. Matteo’s right; they can talk about it all in the morning. He can reassess what he thinks in the morning. Right now, all David wants is to snuggle. Matteo seems to sense it because he brushes soft kisses onto David’s hair, fingers running small soothing circles on the skin of his back under the t-shirt he sleeps in. And David finds himself smiling as he falls towards sleep.

“I love you,” he whispers, as he eyes flutter closed.

“I know,” Matteo whispers back. “I love you too.”

The last thing David notices before he slides under is a trail of fingers along his cheek, and a soft voice pressing endearments onto his skin alongside those fingertips. Knowing Matteo is here, and willing to support him no matter what, is all David needs to enable him to finally slip into dreams.


End file.
